Announcing the Alabama Social Media Association

I never sit still.

Too much to be done. Too many people to meet. Too much good stuff to share.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been working on a top secret project with friends to create something worthy of a city on the move that is Birmingham.

Today, I’m happy to announce the Alabama Social Media Association, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to educating anyone and everyone in social media. We will offer lunch meetings and social events — at least 12 in 2011 — to bring people together in Birmingham around this passion we share.

And it’s all free. You won’t have to spend a single penny to learn more about the ways you can use social media with your business, your nonprofit group or for yourself.

All you have to do is tell us you’re going to show up, and then … show up.

As a founding board member, I have been meeting with people throughout the community to bring this group to life. I am genuinely thrilled and touched at the support coming from established organizations and their representatives for this completely unknown venture.

We reached out because we wanted to establish ties right from the beginning. We don’t operate as an isolated entity — we are all about connections.

I did not do it alone. I have been working with some great people along the way, starting with the other founding board members Stacey Hood, Erin Shaw Street and Jeff Vreeland, along with our founding executive director, Kristen Heptinstall. What a delight it has been working with them in every spare moment we could scrape together. They care deeply about social media, Birmingham and Alabama, but more important, they care about people. And each one of them has been unselfish in their time, their deep knowledge of these new channels and their passion.

I also want to thank Whitney Breaux, executive director and co-founder of the Baton Rouge Social Media Association. Her advice and support helped us in countless ways. We love Whitney and the rest of the BRSOCME group.

I will not attempt to list every single person who has lent a hand in this journey, but I do want to single out four more people to thank: Phyllis Neill, Trish Bogdanchik, Tim Clay and Eric McClain.

Join us at ALSOCME. Meet us. Teach us. Move forward with us.

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Our inaugural meeting will be 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 30 at the Hill Event Center, with lunch provided by Zoës Kitchen. The speaker will be Ike Pigott on “Social Media: the 21st-Century Canary,” using social media for crisis management and prevention.

Seating is limited, so RSVP for this free event at ALSOCME.com.

Update: We sold out in under 3 hours. But please visit the site to sign up for both the waiting list and our regular mailing list for updates on upcoming events.